Will You Stay?
by Phoenixflame of Thunderclan
Summary: LIGHTCLAN CONTEST ENTRY! Phoenixstar is leader of Thunderclan. She has a forbidden mate and forbidden kits, but the real problem is that her last life was taken by a monster, but she is still alive. She tries to figure out what is best for her, her clan, and her family.


"Will you stay?" That was the question that buzzed through my head. That is the question that made me rethink everything. That was the question my mate asked me the day I was hit by the monster. I remember very little. Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. I am Phoenixstar, leader of Dragonclan. Coincidentally, the leader of Phoenixclan is Dragonstar. Try figuring that out! 

I was hunting for my kits, for the clan had already been fed. My kits were only a couple of sunrises old. I originally had five kits, but one died at birth, one was hit my a monster, one had died before it was born. I was left to two of my kits, Luckykit and Cloverkit. I saw a rabbit, and as I pounced on it, I monster came out of nowhere and hit me dead on. It cracked four ribs, and shattered two, snapped my collar bone, and cracked my skull in multiple places.

My mate's name was Woody and, as you could probably guess, he is a kittypet. I loved him and still love him. He found me and my kits that day. He took us into the cutter or, as he calls it, the vet. They did everything they could, but Woody said they said that chances of survival were very slim. Woody was the only one with me that night. He whispered in my ear, "Will you stay, or will you leave me?"

I don't know, I really don't know. Starclan have turned their backs on our clans, Phoenixclan, Dragonclan, Serpentclan, and Hydraclan. They don't come to us anymore. There is someone else, a twoleg, who comes to us. He is more truthful than Starclan, he speaks cat, he is always there. But, when a new faith comes along, so does the anti. It was the Devil who sent that monster to crush me. It was Satin who killed me. It was Him who did this to me.

I am alone now. Woody had left, since I had that morning. But, the Lord brought me back to my clan, and now Starclan is nothing. I returned that day, my clan welcomed me back, but they had no idea what I was now. I am a zombie. First, it was nearly impossible. So, that is just about everything. Or at least, what I thought would be everything. I'll tell you what happened afterwards...

Redstreak looked suspiciously at Luckykit and Cloverkit. "Where did they come from?" he asked me.

I looked him evenly in the eye. "Their mother."

"Why are they here?"

"Cause they wanted to come."

"But why?"

"Why not?"

He let out a low-tempered growl, but didn't say more.

Flamepaw padded up to Shinypaw, arguing over who was going to do Shadowtail and Powderpelt's bedding. Foxpelt and Badgerfur were discussing the best hunting areas, while my deputy, Sunscorch, lay sprawled out on a flat stone that protruded from the cliff side. Luckykit looked around uneasily and muttered, "They don't want us here," to his sister.

I didn't say anything. They were right. Taking cats outside of your clan for your mate is punishable by exile, death, or sometimes even worse. When Slicescar took a mate from Hydraclan, they punished him by blinding him, ripping every piece of fur from his body, and starving him and the mother was drowned before the kits were born. I didn't want that to be me and my kits.

Sunscorch looked down a me, his eyes slitting as he saw the two kits. "Who are they?"

I stared back at him. "Lucky and Clover." More briskly I added, "Luckykit and Cloverkit."

"Why have you brought a stranger, no, two strangers into the heart of our camp?" Sunscorch asked from his perch.

"They're mother passed," I lied. "The father is nowhere to be found. They would die if I didn't bring them here."

"Will they stay?"

The question felt like a bolt of lightning shot through me. Woody asked the same thing, "Will you stay?" was what he asked.

"I-I-I don't know, depends on what they want."

Lilyfrost, a tortoiseshell queen, saw the two kits and asked, "Shall I take them?"

I dipped my head. "Please, we can't let them die, they need a mother."

Luckykit gave me a look that said, 'But we have a mother! You!'

I gave him a look that answered, 'I can't take care of you. It's for your own good.'

He lowered his head and, tail down, followed Cloverkit into the nursery after Lilyfrost. Redstreak sniffed me. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he exclaimed. "Great Lord, you smell like a fox that's been dead for a moon."

"Not lookin' too good either," Badgerfur pointed out.

"I...er...um...I fell out of a tree while chasing a squirrel and landed on a fox carcass." I felt bad to be lying to my clan like this. How many lies would be told before the truth got out?

"Clean up, then. I don't want that stench coming into my den." he hissed.

"I will."

"Good."

That night, no matter how I tried, I couldn't get the smell from my fur. It reeked in my den and for the first time, I was glad that I was alone. I found my way out into the forest. Our territory was a small forest of which our camp lay in the middle, and surrounded by plains. The other territories were mostly plains also, and many rivers crisscrossed every one. I broke out of the forest and into our plains. Twolegplaces lay everywhere. I glanced towards the one where Woody lived and, almost unconsciously I began padding towards it. I saw him, looking out towards our territory.

"Woody!" I called.

He looked around and saw me. He let out a trill and ran towards me. "Phoenixstar! I-I-I thought you were dead!"

I rubbed my chin against him. "Never think that, my love."

"Are Lucky and Clover okay?"

"A queen of ours, Lilyfrost, took them."

He seemed much happier. "But the vet, they said- they told my twolegs that you were dead!"

"Maybe, I might have."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know! I smell dead and I feel sick and oh Woody! I don't know what to do!"

"Stay with me, my twolegs would take you in."

"Nobody would want a cat that smells like a zombie, I need to leave."

His voice shook. "You-you can't. You can't leave me! Not again!"

"Of course I wouldn't." I purred to him, even though it stuck in my throat. "Come with me."

"Leave my twolegs or leave you? How could I make that choice?"

"I'm leaving, you can come, well, actually I _want_ you to come."

He leaned towards me and spoke, his voice so soft that it was barely enough to ruffle my ear fur. "Will you stay with me?"

I swallowed back my sadness and answered. "I might leave soon. Not my clans, I mean, I'm leaving everything. After I leave my clans, what will I have to live for?"

"Me," he whispered.

I breathed in his sweet scent and let myself drift. To where? I don't know. But I never drifted back, and I found myself back with the Lord in who knows where. How would Woody fare without me? The answer wasn't answer by time, but by knowledge. He wouldn't. He would do anything to be with me. Anything.


End file.
